Megalodon
''Megalodon ''(Big Tooth) were giant prehistoric sharks featured in Sea Monsters. These creatures are ancestors to the Great White Shark, as Megalodon themselves were basically over-sized Great White Sharks. Facts Superficially, Megalodon ''resembled modern great white sharks, but with the overall body length of 17-23 meters, they had jaws with a 2 to 3-metre-wide opening span, studded with teeth that are quite different from the modern white sharks, up to 5-8.5 inches in length, and could swallow them whole. Weighing up to 93 tons, ''Megalodon ''was the largest shark of all time and the biggest carnivorous fish ever to roam the seas, weighing as much as the ''Argentinosaurus! Being so big, Megalodon ''hunted practically everything that lived in the late Cainozoic oceans - dolphins, primitive whales, manatees, etc. The second and third episodes of '''Sea Monsters' has examined this feature in length, examining the hunting techniques of a juvenile Megalodon ''hunting an artificial ''Odobenocetops and then an adult Megalodon hunting a larger prehistoric whale as well. Like young Great White Sharks, juvenile Megalodon ''tended to stay in shallow water away from the adults. Partly for their own safety, but also they did prey on very different things. By the time juveniles were 3 years of age, they probably reached just over 20 ft (6 m) in length. Juveniles or adults, ''Megalodon ''had one of the same hunting techniques as the modern great white sharks do. They couldn't afford to be injured by their prey. They sneaked up from the deep, dark waters below their prey and made devastating attacks. When '''Sea Monsters '''was made, ''Megalodon were considered to be relatives of Great Whites, and juveniles of the species were shown attacking their prey in a very similar way. Adult Megalodon, when they saw their prey, they went down further into the water so they could get more momentum. Once they turned up, they accelerated towards prey and struck with deadly force: Megalodon ''was a species of giant and powerful shark that actually attacked living whales and pretty big ones too. ''Megalodon ''died out 1.6 MYA, during the early Pleistocene Ice Age, when the whales moved to waters that were too cold for this giant fish to live and hunt in, and more successful marine predators, such as the modern killer whales, began to out-compete it for the remaining prey. Some people claim they're still alive, but that is unlikely, for all scientific evidence points otherwise. Appearances *Sea Monsters Appearances In Other Media 'The Most Extreme' In the episode ''Most Extreme Ancestors, footage from its Sea Monsters appearance is reused, like most of the clips from the episode. Gallery SM1x2 MegalodonAttacksCages.jpg|A Megalodon attacking a shark cage. SM1x2 MegalodonApproachesCage.jpg|Megalodon swimming close to a cage Megalodon1.jpg|Megalodon BBC picture SM1x2 MegalodonJuvenileScaresFish.jpg|Megalodon swimming Megalodon.jpg|Close up face of Megalodon megalodon_closeup.jpg Category:Fish Category:Carnivores Category:Walking with Wikia Category:Sea Monsters Animals Category:Sea Monsters Episode 1 animals Category:Sea Monsters Episode 2 animals Category:Sea Monsters Episode 3 animals Category:Time map animals Category:Apex predators Category:Paleogene animals Category:Neogene animals Category:Oligocene animals Category:Miocene animals Category:Pliocene animals Category:Pleistocene animals Category:Animals from Europe Category:Animals from Asia Category:Animals from Africa Category:Animals from North America Category:Animals from South America Category:Animals from Puerto Rico Category:Animals from Cuba Category:Animals from Jamaica Category:Animals from Australia Category:Animals from New Zealand Category:Animals from Japan Category:Animals from Malta Category:Animals from Grendadines Category:Animals from India Category:Animals from the Pacific Ocean Category:Marine animals Category:Vertebrates Category:Animals Category:Chordates Category:Sharks Category:Solitary animals Category:Creatures Category:Tertiary animals Category:Quaternary animals